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Last year, Whitten's wife Ashley met the birth mother and they began to from a bond, according to the Press Democrat. Eventually the birth mother showed the Whittens an ultrasound photograph of the unborn child.

While Whitten and his wife were attending a Valentine's Day party, they received a call with a request from the birth mother: She asked them to adopt her child, Local CBS affiliate KPIX 5 reports.

“It’s weird to live in the tension of joy and heartbreak like this story is,” Ashley Whitten told the station. “It’s wonderful at the same time.”

The baby now has three sisters in the Whittens' home, the Santa Rosa Police Department said.

The child was born prematurely and went through a period of detoxification but has recovered, the Press Democrat reports.